Article: Hotels Fight Back Against Sites Like Expedia and Priceline – Aaron M. Kessler and Julie Weed.

When booking a hotel room for your next trip we tend to turn towards sites like Expedia and Priceline because of the commercials on TV and advertisement that are constantly being shown, but hotels aren’t too happy with that. When you book from this sites the hotels are automatically required to give part of the commission to the websites. Certain hotels have found new ways to make customers steer away from the online sites and book directly with them.  They are offering perks such as rewards points, digital check-in options, free meals, WIFI, and even picking  your own room. I mean if I could pick my own room just by booking with the hotel I would. Of course its easier said than done because hotels lose money either way. Booking online guarantees a customer a cheaper price then booking directly with the hotels and hotel aren’t allowed to because of the contracts they have with these online booking sites. Expedia lately has been on a huge takeover, they now own travelocity and an Australian booking site and is in the works of picking up Orbitz. From the hotels stand point they say if Expedia continues to grow it won’t be the hotel that have to pay for it but the consumers(us). Amy Klobuchar the senator of Minnesota states “The whole idea of cheaper hotels is very good, but if it all starts to come under one company, you can easily foresee the situation where they can charge higher commission that are then passed on to consumers.” Of course Expedia disagrees with this statement but it’s a debate that is still being settled and both parties both have valid points.

     Hello Everyone, My name is Mariama Bah and this is my first semester at City Tech. I just transferred from LaGuardia where I spent many years not sure of the career that I wanted to pursue. My major was physical therapy assistant but while going to many science classes and struggling to maintain a good grade I came to the realization that Science was not my strong suit and the only thing that was interesting about physical therapy was the money I would have been making. Now that I have a fresh new start at City Tech with a major that I know I will succeed in, I have made a couple of goals to make my experience here fun and worth it. Some of my goals are to Stay focused and remember the end goal, get out of my comfort shell and join clubs and participate in activities, STOP procrastinating Start networking because that the best way to succeed in the HM field, Make new friends and Ask for help. By achieving these goals and the many others I have set for myself academically I know that I will go far because it’s only the beginning.

     Since I can remember I always liked working, my father owned his own store and I would always beg him to take me with him on the weekends and during summer breaks from school, from working with my father I went on to work at various places doing various jobs such as babysitting, retail, food service and some more retail. The food service job that I had was Dunkin Donuts. It wasn’t much but it did give me a better view of the Hospitality Food from doing food prep, making donuts, taking temperatures and dealing with customers on a daily basis. From working at Dunkin Donuts it made me realize that I would want to open my own restaurant and bakery and that’s what I plan on doing and succeeding at it because owning any type of business isn’t easy but owning a food business I would have to say is the most challenging.

      Personally I would have to some of my strengths are always wanting to try something new unless it involves heights, challenging myself, and my creativity. When I want something I stop at nothing until I achieve or surpass that goal. Growing up food network was my favorite channel while every little girl I knew was playing with dolls I was playing with pots and pans making pretend food and serving it to my family and guest. When I was old enough to cook for myself I started creating random dishes using trial and error to perfect my food. When I received negative feedback I went back and tried again, When I received positive feedback It felt good and then I moved on to my next task. Cooking and baking was my way of expressing myself because I was allowed to do anything, mix different flavors, textures and etc. and come out with a great outcome. I started hosting little get together, or brought dishes over to friends households and from then I knew I wanted to be a Chef with plenty of restaurants and I still plan on being that Chef.‘